CACUS
Greek Mythology
Roman Mythology
Son of Medusa and Vulcan/Hephaestus
This is the name of a monster in the classical mythology of Greece and Rome. CACUS means "Wicked", is described as having an enormous spherical body like that of a huge grotesque spider, from it's single neck were 3 fire-breathing human heads, and it's body was supported by long legs like tree trunks. CACUS was said to be the Progeny of the GORGON MEDUSA and the god of fire HEPHAESTUS/VULCAN. It inhabited a cave in the cliff of the River Tiber by day, but at night it terrorized the region with its predations and devoured any creature, whether livestock or human, that entered its territory. When HERCULES/HERACLES returned from one of his twelve labors, driving the herd of Geryon before him, he camped for a night near the River Tiber. CACUS saw the cattle and while HERCULES/HERACLES slept, the monster dragged some of the livestock back to his lair. In the morning the lowing herd was answered by the cattle in the cave and the hero went to investigate. But the monster had blocked the entrance with a boulder. At last, after many attempts, the hero tore the cliff apart and CACUS poured venomous fire toward him. HERCULES/HERACLES seized he monster by the neck and tied it in a knot, leaving it to strangle itself because it was unable to disentangle it's 3 heads. Then the hero threw the monster to the vultures and departed with his herd.
Source: Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth